Clark Gregg on Agent Coulson's Return to S.H.I.E.L.D.

We all saw Clark Gregg's Agent Coulson die in The Avengers, but Joss Whedon has resurrected him for the new S.H.I.E.L.D. TV series that will air sometime this Fall. The big question on everyone's mind is, how exactly did Whedon bring the character back to life? Gregg recently talked to Collider and explained how he felt about Coulson's death, and why we'll still have to wait to find out exactly how Coulson comes back to life when the series begins.

I’ve been so happy and living this geek fantasy as they kept adding Agent Coulson to everything including The Avengers and then gave him this magnificent, almost Shakespearean death scene, and I found out on that day how much I loved this guy and had come to identify with him partly because of the way fans responded to him, and also because he had such a great niche in those movies.  He got to be funny, he got to be, in this case, heroic.  And then I got to say good-bye to him, and it was a very emotional day.  And yet I feel what Joss did with that was a fantastic conclusion of the character.

And even though my friends at Marvel said, ‘You know, we spent a lot of time talking about how Coulson lives, and we know that there’s a movement out there, and there are t-shirts and people paint on bridges ‘Coulson Lives’, we’re going to bring you back’, and it’s one of the many things people tell you that never ever happens.  And then I get this call from Joss saying, ‘Well…there’s a script. And here’s what we’re thinking, and it’s after The Avengers, and here’s the concept.’ By the time Joss finished telling me, I was in ... After people see the show, they’ll have some clue as to why I’m still there, still breathing. But I don’t think they’ll know everything.

Do you have any theories on how Whedon might have brought Coulson back to life?